I found your site a little over a year ago, when my beloved Puss was having health issues (fungus infection in her spine). It was tremendously helpful to come here and "talk" to other fur-folks.

We went through a lot, she and our family with her ... In the end, we lost her, but she, and we, had a whole "extra" good year together. We had to put her down July 4th'08. Her illness had deteriorated 6 inches of her back, from her neck to mid-back, and her discs were all fused in the area. Puss was 10 years old.

So, we now have brought a new kitten into our family. Not to replace Puss, cause no one could, but to share the "kitty-love" we all have in our house!

My boys (10&12) have named her "cookie" ... and they're having a great time bonding with her. This is their first kitten - Puss was already 1 when we got her.

I haven't lived more than 3 weeks in my entire life without a cat (42.75yrs!), however, it's been at least fifteen years since I had a "baby" to train!

I hope y'all will help with some of the exciting and frustrating kitten hurdles to come! Once I re-educate myself on "how to", I'll send along Cookie's pic.

As for training, consistency, consistency, consistency. When I am training my fosters, they are not allowed to bite hands or feet, nobody is allowed to wiggle fingers or toes. I will take my hand away and get a toy to redirect their attention to it.

I also continuously show them to scratch the scratching post and as soon as they try furniture, they are picked up and taken to the closest scratching post.

As for curtains, I only have one pair in my house and they are taken down when there are kittens in the house, haven't been able to stop them from climbing them

Of course lots and lots of love and cuddling

And finally, I would like to add that feeding raw to my foster kittens have led to them have far superior muscle mass than any kitten not fed raw, to the point when my last fosters went to be altered, the vet made a comment on their wonderful health and strength. My current fosters, who are feral and I have had since Sunday, spent three weeks in a shelter where they were fed cheap corn filled food, after five days of raw I have noticed a HUGE difference in their muscle mass and coats. I feed them Nature's Variety and Pawsitively-raw.